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My weird new hobby: Wandering around Tokyo on Google Maps

429 points · 181 comments · ahmedhossamdev

  1. dajonker · · focus · HN ↗
    This is a hobby of mine, too. It's one of the most fantastic things available on the internet. The ability to travel anywhere in the world and - as the author of the blog also said - the ability to travel back in time as well!

    I did some road trips in 2009 and made pictures with a compact camera. I was able to determine the almost exact locations I shot these pictures thanks to street view, so I could see route that we took back then. One picture was shot in the dark but had a distinctive logo sign on the side of the road. Given the timestamp on the photo and the extremely blurry restaurant and motel logos on the sign, I had a good idea of where to look, but it turned out this sign was only up in a single year and it was quite hard to navigate to!

    Unfortunately, I don't think you can "lock" the street view date? Nor does the map view on go back in time? I guess you can use Google Earth to view satellite images. There is a whole neighborhood in Seoul that's been completely leveled on the satellite pictures, yet you can still use street view from 2018 to travel around.

    1. jfil · · focus · HN ↗
      I love the kind of phenomena you're describing with the Seoul neighborhood, where a place has become unmoored in time. From online sources, you'd think it still exists, but it is gone IRL.

      There was a mall in my vity that got demolished, but Google Maps still showed it active w&#x2F; interior layout and shops&#x27; details. It inspired this project: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;jacobfilipp.com&#x2F;place&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;jacobfilipp.com&#x2F;place&#x2F;

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